A vital aspect of advocating for quality cancer care is initiating and maintaining relationships with elected officials. By establishing contact with your Members of Congress, you are letting them know, as a constituent, you have interest in cancer issues and that they can look to you for help or guidance when they need assistance. This section provides guidance on how to contact your congressional representatives and the best way to communicate with them and their staff.
Why Contact Your Member of Congress? Government affects oncology in a number of ways and the purposes of meeting with Members of Congress are equally varied.
Encourage Your Members of Congress to Serve Your Interests
As elected officials, your representatives should be responsive to the will of their constituents. In order for your legislator to understand and address your concerns, he or she must hear from you.
In contacting your Members of Congress you can explain how they can serve the needs of their many constituents with cancer.
Educate Your Representatives
Elected officials are continuously confronted with numerous complex issues. Unless they already have a special interest in the specific areas of concern to you, they may lack information vital to their decision-making process.
Educate your representatives about their district’s cancer community and the policy concerns of their constituents.
Influence Your Legislators’ Vote on Key Legislation
In order to influence your legislator’s decision-making, be sure your views on any relevant bills are known. If a vote on important health-related legislation is scheduled let your representatives know your opinion on the bill.
In deciding how to vote on bills, Members of Congress should be aware of the constituents’ views.
Encourage Your Legislators to Influence Executive Branch Implementation of Laws
Executive agencies have considerable discretion in how they choose to execute laws, and it may be necessary for you to contact your elected officials to encourage them to monitor and influence the implementation of authority Congress has given the Executive Branch.
The most appropriate targets for your contacts will be Members of Congress who are on the Committees with jurisdiction over the agency you wish to influence.
Establish a Relationship with your Member’s Office
When contacting your Members of Congress, think about the future as well as the present. In addition to informing your Members about current policy matters, you should aim to develop an ongoing relationship with the legislator and his or her office. Offer to be a resource for the office in your areas of expertise.
Once you have established such a relationship, you can use your representatives and their staff to stay informed about policies and developments that may affect you, your colleagues and your patients.
Writing to your Member of Congress is an excellent way to open and maintain lines of communication. Through written correspondence, you can educate your legislator about issues and legislation that affect you. Due to heightened security and new procedures regarding mail, most offices prefer email communication instead of letters. However, sending a letter is better then no communication at all with your Member of Congress. Whenever you write to Congress, keep the following in mind.
Be brief. Members of Congress and their staff are busy. Try to keep correspondence to a single page addressing only one or two issues.
Avoid using form letters/emails. Personal letters are much more effective. When using a form letter or email, take a few minutes to insert personalized information.
Personalize your position. Anecdotes regarding patient or research experiences usually make your issue more compelling.
Identify yourself and your organization. Always provide your full name and address. (Being a voting constituent matters!) Also include a sentence or two stating who you are (e.g., an oncologist practicing in the Member’s state or district, a staff member of a research institute in the Member’s state or district, a member of ASCO, the number of patients you treat, etc.) and your interest in the topic. If you are representing an organization that includes a large number of constituents, tell your representative.
State the purpose of the letter at the outset. Articulate your specific request and reference the issues or bill (along with the bill number) in your opening paragraph.
Know your Member of Congress. Thank Members who have been helpful on cancer issues in the past. If the legislator takes an opposing view of an issue, provide specific reasons why he or she should change positions.
Be polite and respectful. Always be polite and respectful, even when disagreeing with a legislator’s position.
Send a copy of your letter to ASCO. This keeps the ASCO staff informed of contact with Members of Congress and can help when staff schedule meetings.
Follow up and be patient. Congressional offices receive scores of correspondence per day. If you do not receive a response from your first communication, send another. If your position is supported, write a letter of appreciation.
